


Feral

by Ai_MaiWriting



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, M/M, assumptions about alien biology, werewolf-esque
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:41:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21936148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ai_MaiWriting/pseuds/Ai_MaiWriting
Summary: Galran biology is strange and dangerous. The Paladins learn this the hard way when Lance loses consciousness on a mission, and Keith loses his sanity.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 154





	Feral

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! This is my gift to you!

Keith wasn’t exactly excited to discover his Galran side. He’d been raised a human with no mother, trust issues, and an aversion to change. His father dying threw him for a loop, but he was also raised to adapt. He learned to live on his own; to support himself without government interference. The Garrison made things easier - food, shelter, someone to tell him what he was supposed to do - but his temper wouldn’t allow him to stay. The higher-ups called it “disciplinary issues.” Keith called it fair. Griffin pushed the wrong button, and Keith lashed out. He’d been raised to defend himself, no matter the consequences.

This doesn’t even take into account Shiro’s disappearance. Takashi “Shrio” Shirogane took to Keith immediately. He wasn’t put off by his rough attitude and firecracker eyes. He became Keith’s closest friend; his brother.

Then he left for Kerberos and never returned. The higher-ups called it “pilot failure”. Keith called it suspicious. A small part of him couldn’t help but blame himself. Survivor’s guilt was the term. What-ifs and well-maybes would get him nowhere, and he knew it, but that didn’t stop them from invading his consciousness.

And then everything went downhill. So much happened and changed all at once. He was in space with three strangers he only knew by reputation, and Shiro was there, and alien warships were firing, and a cargo pilot was at the controls, and he was in a wormhole, and he was told to defend the universe, and he almost died, and on top of everything he’s not even fully human. He’d snapped and panicked too many times to be sane.

But he was always there. Lance McClain. A goofball cargo pilot who was always there when he needed someone to talk at, or a partner to spar with, or just someone to sit next to and share a space. Lance was reliable, and annoying, and an incredible sharpshooter, and Keith fell so hard.

He fell for his gentle words and lyrical voice. He fell for his determination and tenacity. He fell for every joke, laugh, and smile. He fell for his leadership and charisma. He fell for Lance.

And Lance fell too.

Galran instincts (which he never saw as strange before, but he now knew it was not a human thing to want to rip your enemies to shreds) caused huge changes. Anger made his eyes glow yellow. Fear made his ears droop. Happiness — though he would never admit it — made him purr.

The Galran changes were scary, but the anger, the unadulterated rage, was terrifying. Keith’s skin burned purple, and his teeth sharpened into something deadly. It wasn’t something to be concerned with until it proved just how dangerous it could be.

On a stealth mission to an enemy outpost in the Fa’aal system, things broke bad. He and Lance were separated from the team, Lance was unconscious, and Keith’s blood was boiling. He stood over his fallen lover, deep, guttural snarls tearing through his throat. The Galra who attacked faltered for a second, recognizing this behavior. They’d shot down a very impulsive Galra’s mate, and they were going to pay.

The delay was minuscule, but Keith was raised to take advantage of small openings such as this. His burning, yellow eyes followed the soldiers as he drew his sword, and attacked. He slashed wildly, rage and adrenaline driving his actions. Blood splattered across his armor and stained his face, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. His movements quickly became less purposeful, and more instinctual.

A soldier grabbed him from behind, but Keith merely bared his sharpened teeth and bit into the break in the armor for the Galran’s wrist. He pulled his head back, then spit out the chunk of flesh and fabric trapped within his jaws. He jammed his elbow into the soldier’s abdomen, then plunged his sword through their chest.

Then it was quiet. Blood sat in Keith’s mouth, the metallic taste giving him a sick sense of accomplishment. Explosions raged outside the base, but they all sounded worlds away when Lance was lying unconscious on the floor, and his heart pounded in his ears. Galran blood spattered thinly across his armor, and a lump was forming on his head, but other than that he was fine.

But he wasn’t fine. Instinct told Keith to get him to safety as fast as possible. Instinct said to watch over him and help him heal. Instinct screamed to whatever he does just protect Lance.

Or maybe that screaming was just Allura.

“Keith, Lance, come in!” She called, trying to hear herself over the gunfire on her end. “Please, answer me!”

Keith switched on his intercom and grunted. His skin felt too tight. He hated just sitting. He had to move, had to make every Galra pay for hurting his boyfriend.

“Is everything alright over there?” Keith grunted again, pulling Lance into his arms. “A-are you sure? Is anyone hurt? Things are slowing down up here, so-“

“Healing pod,” Keith growled. “For Lance.”

“Right away!” Allura went quiet after that.

Keith stood and ran as fast as he could without hurting Lance. For once, it seemed the Galra feared him more than failure.

~

Allura had very limited knowledge of Galran mating bonds, but if Keith’s ferocious, violent behavior was anything to go off of, she could assume they were powerful and binding.

“I don’t like doing this...” Hunk stated, breaking the silence of the medbay.

“It was the only choice we had,” Shiro sighed.

Allura had to agree with both. When Keith returned to the castleship he’d seemed to have lost all sense of self. Coran tried to take Lance and move him to a healing pod, but Keith lashed out. He only snarled at first, it was a warning. Coran tried to reassure the Red Paladin, but he wouldn’t — or couldn’t — listen. Keith bared his teeth, standing protectively between Lance and the rest of Voltron. He couldn’t see them. His instinct-driven mind only registered enemies, and unfortunately for the team that was everyone.

When Keith snapped and attacked, they had no choice. They restrained him and locked him in an empty room. No one liked it, and everyone tried reasoning with him, but nothing worked.

Protective instinct turned to imprisoned rage. Keith growled and screamed; he clawed the walls, and almost took out one of Pidge’s eyes. They left him alone after that.

In better news, Lance was making excellent progress. The damage wasn’t nearly as bad as they’d feared. He had a cracked rib, a bump on his head, and a few grazes from the blasters on his arms, but all of that fell into the category of “Normal Mission Injuries.” Allura suspected it was the unconsciousness that set Keith over the edge, though that wouldn’t cause any lasting damage.

“I have to side with Shiro,” Allura sighed, glancing at Lance, who rested peacefully in his pod. “Even if we did manage to calm Keith down, he’d probably only fall back into his rage. His Galran instincts are telling him he has to protect Lance until he’s healed, but human instinct knows he’ll heal faster in the pod. That conflict has to weigh heavily. Not to mention Lance looks sort of...”

“Dead?” Pidge supplied, glancing up from her newest project (fixing up an old medical robot).

“Yes.” Allura released a breath. “I’m by no means an expert, but I think it best we let Keith cool off before reasoning with him again.”

Shiro nodded, arms folded. “That works. Keith always liked to be left alone when angry.”

The silence resettled. Hunk sat cross-legged on the floor near Lance, tapping a knee in a steady rhythm. Coran finished off his checks on the Blue Paladin and left to go work on another part of the castleship. Shiro stayed a bit longer, but soon enough he also left to... do whatever it is Shiro does.

It occurred to Allura that she really didn’t know anything about the Black Paladin. She knew he was human, a strong leader, he’d been captured by the Galra a few times, he had a familial bond with Keith, but other than that she knew nothing. She didn’t even know if that familial bond was blood family or found family.

Now that she really thought about it, she didn’t know anything about any of the Paladins — not even Lance. He talked and talked but it was really just that, talk. Most of the time it was just idle pleasantries, none of it really meaning anything. Though, to be fair, she never shared much herself.

Allura silently made her way to the command deck, unwilling to bear that weight. Maybe this is why the gap exists- because she withdrawals before anyone can get close.

Distantly, she heard Keith scream. Her heart clenched.

~

The beeping was incessant. Every little sound made Pidge’s eye twitch. She tried her best to ignore it, but she’d managed to screw one plate to the wrong panel six different times when she wasn’t paying attention. Eventually, she sighed, rubbed her eyes, and gave up on getting any work done.

“How much longer will he be in there?”

“Three and a half vargas,” Hunk replied. He readjusted his position so he was laying on his stomach facing Pidge.

“...Do you really think it was okay to lock up Keith?”

Hunk was quiet for a while. “No way. He should be here when Lance gets out, but...”

_If we let him out, he’d bite our heads off._

Pidge nodded. She couldn’t agree with the treatment of their teammate, but it wasn’t like she could come up with anything better. If Keith saw them now, he’d probably tear them apart to get to Lance.

“Galran instinct is violent,” Pidge observed.

“Maybe Coran and Allura can explain more.”

“Maybe.”

The conversation halted. The medbay was silent, save for the rhythmic beeping of Lance’s vitals. Pidge slowly packed up her tools — an excuse to stay longer. Hunk could stay as long as he liked without being questioned. She was different. Sure, she had a good relationship with Lance, but the two weren’t as close as they probably should’ve been. She couldn’t rightly justify just staying for the sake of staying.

“You want me to get you anything, or will you be okay?” Pidge asked, standing up and stretching her back. It popped nicely.

“Nah.” Hunk paused. “Actually, if you could get me one of those juice pouches that’d be great.”

“One space Capri Sun comin’ right up.”

Pidge set off to the kitchen, robot abandoned on the floor.

~

God, Lance was tired. Healing pods really sapped your strength. He barely registered Hunk catching him on his way out.

“Easy, buddy. You had a head injury,” Hunk said softly. That would explain the exhaustion; head injuries were tougher nuts to crack. Or heal, in this case.

Lance blinked a few times. He scanned the room and pretended it didn’t hurt when he saw it empty.

“Where is everyone?”

“Coran is doing checks on the telleduv, Allura is piloting the ship, Shiro is... somewhere — I think the training hall — anyway, Pidge is trying to get Green to hide heat signatures, and...“

“Keith?” Hunk went quiet. He looked off to the side; a sure sign he was hiding something. Panic rose in Lance’s chest. “Where is he? Is he in another pod? Hunk, buddy, talk to me.”

“No! He’s - uh - he’s okay... He just, um-“

“Spit it out!”

Lance flinched at the harshness in his voice and opened his mouth to apologize, but Hunk beat him to it.

“We had to lock him up.” He said it quickly in one breath. “His Galra side came out when you fell unconscious and he started attacking the team. We tried talking to him, but nothing worked.”

“So, you locked him up?!”

“He tried to kill us!” There was a heavy pause. “He tried to stop us from getting to you. We had to do something if we were going to get you in a pod. None of us like it either, but we didn’t have many options.”

Lance bit his lip. “Where is he?”

“Lance, he could really hurt you.”

“He won’t.”

The Blue Paladin took a few purposeful steps, stumbled, then carried on without a hitch. Hunk followed after, his hands readied to catch his friend should he lose his balance again.

Keith was kept a few hallways down in an old bedroom that no longer served any purpose. In fact, no one really went in this wing of the castle; what was the point?

When the duo approached the room in question, the found Shiro outside, pinching the bridge of his nose. Upon hearing the footsteps, he looked up and beamed when he saw Lance.

“How ya feeling?” He asked, a faint smile gracing his features.

“I’m in top shape, team leader,” Lance grinned back with a salute. Then, his face fell, the look in his eyes turning serious. “Hunk explained the situation to me. How’s Keith doing?”

Shiro rubbed the back of his neck. “Not great. I just checked up on him, and he’s... pretty bad...”

Lance bit his bottom lip. “I’m going in.”

“What?!”

“I already said I’ll be fine, Hunk.”

“I’m with Hunk here. We should give Keith more time to cool off.”

“If me going unconscious put him in this state, then maybe me being conscious again will pull him out.”

It was sound reasoning. Sort of. It didn’t eliminate the possibility of Keith biting his head off out of sheer violent instinct. Galra Keith was scary. That was an understatement; Galra Keith was piss-your-pants terrifying. His teeth and claws were built-in weapons, his eyes held enough fury to stop an army in its tracks. He flirted with the uncanny valley too much to be looked at for long. The Paladins were right to keep their distance.

But Lance didn’t share the sentiment.

Keith wasn’t terrifying. Keith was the guy who once laughed so hard that food goo came out of his nose; the guy who purred when you stroked his hair; the guy who was unbelievably ticklish, but stubbornly refused to acknowledge it. Keith was Lance’s boyfriend, and by definition was only scary when Lance ate the last cookie.

“I’m going in,” Lance repeated, this time with more confidence.

He entered the room before the others could protest. It was dimly lit, a few of the lights having been smashed. The dusty furniture was toppled and torn. Claw marks riddled the walls. Keith was in the middle of it all, crouched next to the bed, clearly still out of it. His head whipped towards the opening door with a snarl but was not replaced by the smile Lance was expecting.

“Hey, man,” Lance started.

Keith stood, his posture now hunched and feral, and began circling the Blue Paladin.

“Cariño? You okay? I know I gave you a bit of a scare, but that’s over now. You don’t have to lash out at our friends anymore. By the way, I know I don’t have to tell you how upset I am about that. Super not cool.”

If Keith could hear him, he wasn’t listening. He was growling, low and guttural, as he paused, eyeing Lance as if sizing him up. Then, he charged.

With a yelp, Lance barely dodged the attack. The Red Paladin turned on a dime, claws at the ready. Lance was just barely fast enough. He ran, trying to stay out of range.

“C’mon, it’s me! It’s Lance! You know, the boyfriend you love so dearly and would _never_ _fillet_!”

Keith tackled Lance to the ground, teeth bared and gnashing. It was all Lance could do to keep those razor-sharp claws from piercing his skin, or worse, his favorite jacket.

“Keith, I’m okay! I’m not hurt anymore, but if you don’t calm the fuck down that won’t last long!”

The eyes were what changed first, they always were. The venomous yellow bled back into a familiar calming purple. The claws and teeth rounded back into their human shapes as the violet of his skin faded to its usual light tan. Slowly, Keith stopped thrashing.

“Lance?”

Lance kissed his boyfriend’s nose. “Cariño.”

Keith looked at Lance, then the room, then the gears turned. He grimaced, collapsing down onto Lance with a groan.

“I don’t really remember what happened, but it was bad, right?”

Lance laughed loudly, running his fingers through Keith’s hair. “You almost killed the team.”

The Red Paladin groaned even louder. “I owe them so many apologies…”

“I don’t think they blame you. Galran instinct is weird, we all know that. Just promise me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t turn into a rampaging monster every time I pass out.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t pass out.”

“Maybe you should know that I can handle myself, and even when I can’t you’ll be there to help – in your perfectly sane state – get me to a healing pod.”

“…Fine. I’ll try to stay sane.”

The couple fell quiet for a few beats before Lance said, “You’ve totally been purring, by the way.”

“For the thousandth time, I don’t purr!”

**Author's Note:**

> Have you ever heard those old legends about werewolves where the lover of the changed werewolf can turn them back just by saying their name?


End file.
